Slot’s managerial career has been short. His first managerial job came in 2017 at Cambuur before earning a move to AZ Alkmaar.
Here he earned 2.11 points per game in the Eredivisie, the highest of any AZ-coach in history, before moving on to a ‘top’ club in Feyenoord in 2020/21.
Arne Slot has worked miracles at Feyenoord as he comfortably won the club what is only their second Eredivisie in 20 years…
Not only that, but he has also punched above his weight in Europe by reaching the Europa Conference League final and the Europa League quarter finals.
In the summer window prior to Feyenoord’s title win under Slot, the club lost all four of their top scorers and had a net spend of -€35m.
The club lost key players, made profit, and still improved.
This season, PSV have won the title, but Slot’s Feyenoord have still done well.
Once again, Feyenoord made a profit of €5.40m in the summer and they have struggled to financially keep up with PSV, yet Slot’s team have only lost 2 Eredivisie games this season, won the KNVB Cup (the Dutch FA Cup), and excel across Europe for their underlying metrics…
So, how exactly do his team play?
We know the history of the manager, his achievements, and what the underlying metrics say, but what about his tactics and style of play?
From the goal kick, Feyenoord build in a multitude of ways, but what is consistent in their build-up approach is the use of ‘staggered lines’.
The idea behind the ‘staggered lines’ approach is to enable ‘bounce’ passes.
These are passes that are played into a dropping midfielder, for example, who then instantly pass to the ‘third man’.
If two players were on the same line, then one would not be able to use him as a passing option.
Instead, because the lines are ‘staggered’, Timber can use him as once of his ‘bounce’ options.
This principle is something that is unanimously coached at the elite level.
The second way Feyenoord build play is with Geertruida, Feyenoord’s right back, inverting into midfield with Feyenoord’s right-centre back pushed out to right back.
Then, the goalkeeper acts as a situational centre back & Feyneoord build with 4 in the first line & 3 in midfield.
Ahead of the initial phase of the build-up, Feyenoord consistently attack with 4 in the last line, and they regularly play ‘over’ the opposition to find them.
Another benefit of the ‘staggered midfield’ is the fact that when Feyenoord do play long, Timber is ready to push high up the pitch & counterpress behind the line of 4 in attack.
The idea is to play long, win the duel with the wingers in behind & the #8’s ready to win 2nd balls.
Although Feyernoord do invert Geertruida in the build-up on occasion, they typically build in the 4-2-4 with a staggered midfield where they are willing to play ‘through’ or ‘over’ the opposition.
However, against high quality teams, they are often more direct in their approach.
They start off in a flat 4-1 build with two #8’s between the lines.
The idea in this moment is to play short, attract the opposition to press, and then play over against the opposition team who are stretched with the #8’s pushed up to win second balls.
The idea is to create moments in transition off the back of duel wins.
Alternatively, Feyenoord are happy to ‘close and kick’.
This is when they push the team up the pitch & kick long. Again, this typically occurs against the ‘best’ teams.
Slot’s build-up is varied…
Higher up the pitch, Feyenoord transition from their build-up shape into a 2-3-5 with both fullbacks narrow.
However, to say that both fullbacks consistently invert and operate ‘inside’ the opposition’s lines would be false.
The same picture could be perceived as a 4-3-3…
We see a flat back four with reliability at Feyenoord, so to suggest their fullbacks exclusively invert in the ‘high build’ would be inaccurate.
However, I would primarily refer to their shape as a 2-3-5 because their fullbacks are more narrow than the traditional wide fullback.
The idea behind the narrow and inverted fullback role in possession is largely to connect the team together…
We can see that here on the left-hand side & on the right-hand side of Feyenoord’s attack.
There are clear triangles on each flank which help the team combine & create.
Not only that, but the close proximity of the fullbacks in relation to the #6 helps the team circulate efficiently and focus on ‘short passing’.
This does not always occur in Slot’s team because sometimes the fullbacks are wide, but when they are central the circulation is top.
Another huge benefit of the inverted fullback is the fact that they create passing lanes into the wide players in Feyenoord’s last line of attack. The wingers are easily accessible.
Slot tasks his wingers with staying high and wide against the touchline to create 1v1 situations.
This can be achieved via a direct pass from the centre back, for example, into the winger, but also via switches of play.
The fullback invert which forces the opposition wide player to ‘tuck inside’ which creates a passing lane into the feet of Feyenoord’s winger in a 1v1.
Then, off the back of such moments, the Feyenoord winger can use the 1v1 moment, combine in the triangle-based rotation on the side, or pick out one of the many willing runners from deep.
However, Slot does not only play this way in the high build.
Sometimes he tasks Hartman, Feyenoord’s left back, to hold the width with the winger tucking inside into midfield.
Overall, there are principles that are unique to Slot, but much is similar to that of the ‘elites’…
For now, I will reserve judgement on my interpretation of these characteristics, style of play, & team-based traits as it is impossible for me to assess a team solely based on their in-possession qualities.
